SUMMARY:
One hundred fifty years of Roses' Tolivers, Warwicks, and DuMonts! We begin in the antebellum South on Plantation Alley in South Carolina, where Silas Toliver, deprived of his inheritance, joins up with his best friend Jeremy Warwick to plan a wagon train expedition to the "black waxy" promise of a new territory called Texas. Slavery, westward expansion, abolition, the Civil War, love, marriage, friendship, tragedy and triumph-all the ingredients (and much more) that made so many love Roses so much-are here in abundance.
PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 624
Genre: Historial Fiction
Author: Leila Meacham
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Leila Meacham is a writer and former teacher who lives in San Antonio, Texas. She is the author of the bestselling novels Roses and Tumbleweeds.
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS:
Lelia Meacham is my favorite romance/saga writer of these times. She stole my heart in her huge novel some years ago, "Roses," and continued to do so with this continuation of the families in "Somerset." If you love a big and heart-wrenching story with every twist and knife-edged turn of love and adventure...you'll love this book. It's a stand alone, but if you read "Roses" first, you'll love it even more.
Meacham's characters are so engaging you could just eat them up. Jessica, the main female character, is strong willed, bigger than life, and exasperating; but, she's so lovable and identifiable as the matriarch of a dynasty. I sometimes wanted to reach out and shake her, and sometimes just cried with and for her as she matured. Her love interest/husband, and one of the male central figures of the story, Silas, was definitely the Rhett Butler of the story. So unattainable at first, and so exhaustively desirable in the end even to me! In fact, I loved all the characters (Jeremy, Tippy and Joshua, and all the descendants of Jessica and Silas, and their friends...) and I couldn't get enough of each of their stories through the years.
"Somerset" is a book I couldn't wait to get back to every day. I had a lot of things going on this weekend, and didn't get to everything, but I made my way back to my ebook to finish this novel, nevertheless. It's addictive, touching, a tear-jerker, and so strong and beautiful a story it just keeps you on tender hooks. I was sad to see it end.
If you're looking for a wonderful historical fiction/romance saga, this is the one. You'll always remember it and the beautiful characters that fill its pages.
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
2 comments:
This is on my list to read. I can't believe I still haven't read Roses although its been on my shelf for ages. I'm glad you loved it so much.
I love Leila and her books. I didn't realize this was a continuation of Roses. How exciting!
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